17 people found this review helpful
Recommended
0.0 hrs last two weeks / 14.0 hrs on record
Posted: Dec 21, 2013 @ 4:33pm
Updated: Feb 18, 2015 @ 7:49pm

At the Time of Writing
Game: Aztaka
Price: $9.99*
Genre: Sidescroller/RPG
Time Played: 11 hours
Personal Enjoyment Rating: ☺☺☺☺☻

Links I Found Helpful**
A YouTube review by antisocialfatman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAfgAI2bi7Q

General
I've just finished playing this. It took me about 11 hours to finish the game, which I suppose indicates that this is a relatively short game. However it was very enjoyable and satisfied my thriftiness need of paying a rate of $1 per hour of gaming entertainment.

I fully enjoyed this beautifully drawn game and was drawn into the imaginative world that it brings to life. It does require the player to exercise their own imagination to appreciate everything.

You just need a little bit of patience, to be somewhat observant, and to enjoy older sorts of sidescrollers to like this game. It doesn't hold your hand, so one of the most refreshing things was that I was able to explore everything for myself.

Gameplay
Your character is fairly basic in my opinion. You run around and stab things with your spear whilst collecting energy and casting a few spells. The abilities that you gather on your journey didn't strike me as particularly exciting or interesting, and were more along the lines of getting something that you need in order to get to a new level.

The energy system was interesting and enjoyable because I felt it was a different way of approaching things. You collect different sorts of energy, you can store it, and then you use it. Though I found that my primary useage of energy was either to heal myself or simply to progress through the game by opening a new area up. It did get a little frustrating having to backtrack and hang around dangerous areas trying to collect enough energy in order to progress.

Lastly, a short comment that the combat slowly builds to become more interesting and complicated as the game goes on. It can get quite tricky when you find yourself needing to cast spells at the same time as dodging enemies and generally just trying to stay alive. Luckily there are ample checkpoint saves.

Controls
Nothing out of the ordinary, move left, right, and jump. There are abilities and spells to cast as well. Unfortunately in order to cast the spells you must use your mouse, and the targets you need to hit can be quite difficult to do due to fast timing and other things needing your attention at the same time.

Storyline
Although the story feels extremely traditional and familiar - you're the hero, do stuff and save the world - it is set in a very different and unfamiliar world. It was interesting to have many unfamiliar names which I had no idea how to pronounce (could have wished for some narration).

Sound
As I said, the game could have been greatly enhanced if it had included a little bit of narration here and there. However, I found the music to be very enjoyable and had it on the entire time. I was also particularly enamoured with the different footfall sounds which helped you to understand what sort of terrain you were traversing.

Graphics
The art style was charming and helped to immerse you in an Aztec world. I have a real soft spot for hand-drawn art styles, and this game has some exceptional art. It feels loved.

Pros
+ doesn't spoon feed you
+ exercises your imagination a little
+ lots of checkpoints
+ exquisite art
+ interesting energy system
Cons
- exploration is limited
- combat is awkward and takes time
- a bit too much backtracking trying to figure out what to do next

Help Me Help You
If you did not find this review helpful, I would really appreciate your constructive criticism - tell me why it wasn’t helpful for you. It’s my hope to make the reviews that I do take the time to write up, as helpful as they possibly can be.

Rothana's Steam Review Archive
For those that are interested in seeing more of my reviews, I have set up an archive of them at an external website. I don't earn anything off of this at all, it's just a little side project that I add to when I can. Steam won't let me create a direct link though, so you'll need to make your own way to the URL I describe now: rothana dot weebly dot com

Footnotes
* Any prices that I mention are in CDN because that is what I see. The primary price I list at the top is the price that I bought the game at.
**I will not be keeping an eye on whether the links are up to date, so if they are broken I apologise. Remember that these are external websites and I'm just trying to be helpful - I'm not responsible for the content on the other end.

Edit Log
17/02/2015 formatting
17/02/2015 fleshed out the writing
18/02/2015 added "rothana's archive section"
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